Tech Layoffs Present Worrying Possibilities
In recent weeks, several major tech companies, including Meta, Twitter, and Amazon have laid off thousands of their employees due to economic instability and inflated workforces as a result of the Covid pandemic.
Meta, a massive tech conglomerate that calls itself a “social Metaverse company” has cut around 11,000 of their employees, or 13% of their total workforce. This marks not only the biggest layoff in the company's history, but one of the largest tech layoffs in recent history. The news was delivered in a letter written by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, where he said he would “be taking full responsibility” for the massive layoffs. All employees affected by the layoffs will receive a total of 16 weeks of pay as compensation.
The economic future of Meta is uncertain, but Meta seems to be making efforts to recover, such as “cutting down on discretionary spending” in order to make the company more "lean and efficient".
Another notable example of mass layoffs in the tech industry is with Twitter, which has laid off 7500 employees, nearly halving its workforce. The massive layoffs are a direct result of the company's acquisition by Elon Musk, who has expressed discontent with the prior management’s content moderation policies. Musk’s management of the website has been controversial, with many believing his approach will give rise to misinformation and hate speech on the site. Despite backlash, Musk hasn’t relented, recently laying off an estimated 4400 third party contractors for the company, including those in fields like content moderation. Workers were reportedly given little to no notice upon being fired, which has resulted in discontent from former employees as well as a class action lawsuit against the company for the aforementioned lack of transparency.
As of November 15th, Amazon has begun its own mass layoff, which will result in 10,000 employees losing their jobs according to the company. As a result, Amazon has been forced to discontinue many of its projects and plans for the time being, including its usual increase in workforce to provide for the holiday season. While most of the employees are being involuntarily cut, others have been offered a voluntary severance program, which is supposed to grant them three months of pay plus additional pay for tenure. Documents released about the layoffs by Amazon claim the severance package is a “first step” to keeping the company afloat during this difficult period.
As for the future of the economy as a whole, many believe the recent trends in the tech industry are indicative of an upcoming economic recession. Whatever people’s views are about the future of the economy, it is widely agreed that these tech companies are experiencing a massive downturn due to society opening back up after the covid pandemic. The future of the market is still hard to determine, but most experts agree that any recession that comes as a result of recent events will not be severe.
By Christopher Eckl